There are many who have childhood memories of living in Zanzibar in the 1950s and 1960s. It was a different world then. This is an attempt to record stories of that world as well as interesting historical accounts of the islands.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

1912 Gandhiji in Zanzibar by Bipin Suchak

The photograph was taken on 27
November 1912 at a function at VictoriaGardens opposite the
official residence British Resident.The photograph shows Gopal Krishna Gokhale in the centre with Gandhiji
and Hermann Kallenbach on his right and
members of the Karimjee Jivanjee family on his left. My grandfather Mulji
Walji Suchak is in the photograph in the third row in the traditional
black cap.Accoording to Gandhiji's autobiography Gokhale came to South Africa in October 1912 and stayed
with him for about six weeks and at Gokhle's behest accompanied
him to Zanzibar when
he sailed for home.

The Indian communities at East
African ports along the way saw Gandhiji in traditional Indian clothes for the
first time since some twenty years earlier when he wore a turban in a Durban courtroom the day after he first arrived from India, and which
he refused to take off - although in the photograph he is wearing a suit.

Gandhiji in his
autobiography acknowledged the impact that Gokhale had on him and stated
that "Gokhale prepared me for India".

In his book "Gandhi Before India" Ramchandra
Guha referring to Gokhale's return to India (page 439) writes:

"En route, they stopped in Zanzibar. The island had
an active Indian community, who,

it turned out, knew all about the
satyagraha in South Africa,
and its leader, whose struggle deeply resonated with them. 'Remarkable how
the men's faces light up when they hear the name
"Gandhi," wrote Kallenbach in his diary, 'and how eager they were to
shake his hands' (the footnote here points out to Kallenbach's diary entry for
27 November 1912)

When they parted company in
Zanzibar Gakhale told Gandhiji to put South Africa behind him and come
home to fulfill his destiny. Gandhiji returned to India
in January 1915 after having spent nearly 20 years in South Africa.
Shortly after his return he was hailed as a "Mahatma"